Cigarette and process of making same.



J. W. BLOSSER. CIGARETTE AND PROGESS OF MAKING SAME.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22, 1909.

Patented Feb. 21, 1911.

j UNITED STATES PATENT oFFioE.

JOSEPH w. B'LossER, or rLANr GEORGIA, As'sI GNoit. To THE faLOssEii'.coih'ANi? on ATLANTA, GEORGIA, A CORPORATION OF GEORGIA.

CIGARETTE AND PROCESS OF MAKING sAmi-i;

PatentedFeb. 21, 1911. 1909. Serial No. 485,113.

.To all whom 'it-my concern: a

Be it known that I, JOSEPH W. BLOSSER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Atlanta, in the county of Fulton and State of Georgia,haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Cigarettes-and Processes of,Making the Same, of which the following is a specification. Thisinvention relates to cigarettes composed of powdered or granulatedmaterial,-

and its object is to provide an improvetb plug or stopper for retainingsaid material in the paper tube.

The invention isapplicable to cigarettes made of tobacco, but it isespeciallyadapted for those in which the filling is composed ofpowdered, coarsely. ground or granulated substances haying a. medicinalnature, and producing when smoked a vapor possessing remedial propertieswhen inhaled or otherwise brought into contact with the inflamed orotherwise diseased mucous membrane ofthe nose, throat and lungs. Asordinarily made, such cigarettes are composed of a paper tube having oneend tucked or folded in,'sa-id tube being filled with the powdered "orgranulated medicinal substance, and a plug of cotton wool being locatedin the mouth-piece end to keep the filling from running out. This plug.or stopper may be a wad rammed into the tube after it is filled; or thecotton may be rolled into the mouthw piece in' the process of making thetube, the filling'being introduced froin-the other end, Whig? is thentucked in to retain the filling. ither of these processes is slow andexpensive, as each cigarette must be handleds'eparatelg. Moreover,- thecotton plug when ramme through the mouth-piece 40 does not perfectlyserve for the purpose ofretaining the substance to; be smoked, and ifthe cigarettes are transported to a distance the vibration to which theyare subjected is" liable to loosen the plug, allowing the powder toescape. and the cigarette thereby becomes worthlessf Furthermore, theramming is liable to produce a clogging of the filling at a point nextto the mouth-piece so as-to obstruct the free passage of smoke throughit. By myinvention, however,

these difficulties are obviated, and thecigaret-tes containing powderedor granulated substances can be manufactured at much less ekpense andfar more rapidly than heretofore, and at the same time rendered lessliable to be damaged bythe wasting of the filling.

The invention consists first in a'p'rocessof manufacture and second inthe cigarette produced by said process. I

In carrying olitthe process, a glutinous substance in the form of pasteor gra'nules is introduced into the mouth-piece end of the tube after itis, filled, and is then if dry granules are used subjected to moistureor heator both, preferably, steam, to soften said glutinous substanceand cause it to ad: here to the walls of the mouth-piece or the tube. Ifa granulated substance is used, the moist heat will also cause thegranules to cohere-together. I prefer to use a glutinous substance whichon drying or cooling will shrink slightly and draw away from the innersurface of the tube or mouth-piece at various points,- so as to formsmall passages through which the smoke can be drawn. At other points itdraws inwardly the inner adheringlayer of the mouth-piece, leavingaspace between that 'layei and the next.- The substance which I prefer toem ploy is ground glue.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section on anenlarged scale 1 of a cigarette after the filling has been in-.troduced. Fig.- 2 shows it at the conclusion of the first jarringoperation.- Fig. 3- shows it after the granules of glue have beenintroduced. Fig; 4 shows it after the second jarring ready for theapplication of the heat or moisture or both. 5 is a cross section, on alarger scale, through the cooled, dried and shrunk plug, and Fig. 6shows one mode of introducing the filling. and the glue. v

Thepaper tubes 1 are those in ordinary use, and are provided at one endwith a mouth-piece 2 consisting of, a coiled strip of paper forming thinannular passages 3 through which the smoke maypass. A quantity of suchtubes, with the other ends 100 4tucked in to close them, are assembledinan' uprightpositionwith the tucked ends downward. The powdered, coarselyground or granulated medicinal filling 5 is then introduced into thetubes by siftingit over until they are all filled up to the top (Fig.1). I H

vthe assembled group, as shown in Fig. 6,"

By gently jarring or jolting the nest of tubes, the filling is caused tosettle down in the tubes, leaving an empty space in the upper ends ofthe mouth-pleces, (Fig. 2).

5 A small quantity of the glutinous substance 6 preferably in theform ofa. dry powder or anules is,then sifted over the upper ends of the tubes,until they are again filled to the top, (Fig. 3). The excess of powderhaving been brushed oil, the tubes are again jolted to pack the granulesof glue orother glutinous substance, Whose weight assists alsoin furtherconsolidating the filling. At the conclusion of this operation, thematerial .6 of which the plugv is to be formed stands about at the pointshown in Fig. 4. The tubes are then subjected to heat or moisture orboth, preferably by subjecting them to steam, in order to soften thegran- 20 ules of glue or the like and cause them-to adhere to the wallsof the tubes and also to cohere together in a more or less solid plug,as shown at 7 in Fig. 5.

Upon cooling and drying after the heat-' ing or moistening step of theprocess, the glue tends to contract slightly and in so doing it pullsaway here and there from the walls of the'mouth-piece, thereb formingsmall passages 8 between itsel freely when the ci arette is used.- Otherpassages are forme by the separating of the layers of the mouth piece byreason of the inner layer adhering to the 'plug and being drawn inwardlyat points away from the next layer, as shown at 9. These passages,however, are not large enough to allow the filling to escape.

. I By means of this process a large quantity of cigarettes can betreated at once, effecting a large saving in labor'and greatlyincreasing the output in a given time. The

results secured are uniform, so that the cigarettes will smoke'evenlyand freely and all alike. They can be transported long distances withoutany danger of theplugs workingloose and the filling coming out.

As the ci arette is never smoked-beyond the inner en of the mouth-piece,there is no likelihood of the glue producing an unpleasant odor. Theplug, being located preferably at or near the inner end of the mouthpiece, forms a.firm and unyielding portion which affords a good graspfor cigarette from being crushed a hold.

So far as I am. aware, no one has heretofore formed a retaining plug fora cigarette in situ.. The plugs prevlously used have all been madeseparately and then pushed into the tube of the cigarette. By theprocess I have described, this slow and expensive mode of manufacture isavoided, the. granules of glutinous material being simply sifted into bytoo tight and the mouth-piece which permits the smoke to pass thesetting of the plug during its formation the fingers ofthe smoker andprevents the a plurality of tubes nested together, and thentreated insuch a manner as to form the plugs simultaneously in all the cigarettes.

Having thus described my invent-ion, what I claim and desire to secureby Letters Patentis:

1. The method of providing a cigarette with a filler-retaining plug,consisting in first introducing within the cigraette the material to beused in forming the plug, and 7 then so treating said material that itsform will change and, by the act of changing, antomatically form draftopenings.

2. The method of providing a cigarette with a filler-retaining plug,consisting in first introducing within the cigarette glutinous materialto be used in forming the plug, then softening the glutinous material,and finally allowing the glutinous material to dry and shrink andthereby automatically form draft openings.

3. The method of providing a' cigarette with a filler-retaining plug,consisting in first introducing within the cigarette dry, granulatedmaterial to be used in forming the plug, then softening or fiuxing thegranules thereof, and finally allowing the fiuxed material to dry andshrink and thereby au-' tomatically form draft openings.

4:. A cigarette having a filler-retaining plug formed therein provided.with draft openings which are automatically formed by the setting ofthe plug during its formation within the cigarette.

5.-A cigarette having a filler-retaining plug formed therein providedwith draft openings substantially at thev periphery thereof which areautomatically formed by within the cigarette. 5

6. A cigarette having a filler-retaining plug composed of fiuxed andshrunk granules, of glutinous material formed therein provided withdraft openings which are air tomatically formed by thesetting of theplug during its formation within the cigarette.

7. The process of making cigarettes which consists in nesting aplurality of paper tubes, introducing therein a filler. of smokingmaterial, agitating said tubes. to cause said filler to settle,introducing into said par-.- tially filled tubes granules of glutinousmaterial, again agitating the tubes to settle down the filler and theglutinous material aforesaid, and then softening the glutinous materialto cause the granules thereof to cohere and adhere to the walls ofthecigarette, and .finally permitting. the glutinous material to dry andshrink to thereby automatically form draft passages through saidglutinous material. 4

8. The process offorming a cigarette, consisting in filling a paper tubewith a smoking material, and thenagitating the said tube to cause saidfiller to settle and thereby provide a measuring receptacle for thesubsequent introduction of aplug. L

9. The process of forming a cigarette, consisting in' filling a papertube with a smoking material, then agitating the said tube to\ causesaid filler to settle and therebyprovide a measuring receptacle for thesubse quent introduction of a plug, then introducingin-the receptaclethus formed the requisite amount of material for the formation of theplug, again agitatingthe tube to'lcause the filler and superposed plugmaterial to settle, and-finally setting the plug.

10. The process of forming a cigarette, consisting in filling a papefitube with smoking material, then agitating the said tubeto cause saidfiller to settle and thereby prok vide a measuring receptacle for thesubsev material, again agitating the tube to cause quent introductionofa' plug, thenintroducing in said receptacle granules of glutinous thefiller and theplug material to settle, and finally first softening theplug m'ateria-l' to" cause its granules'to coalesce, then dry and shrinkto thereby set the plug and automatically form draft openings.

-11. The, process of making a retainingplug for a cigarette, whichconsists in introducing'into the cigarette tube a quantity offilling,then introducing a 'quantity of granulated glutinous material, heatingsaiolv material to, soften it andlrender it coherent,

and then cooling it to cause the plugto shrink and tear away fromthe.walls of the:

